Inflammatory bowel disease refers to a group of diseases that involves an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract.
Crohn's disease is an example of an inflammatory bowel disease. Crohn's disease can affect the entire gastrointestinal tract from the mouth to the anus.
An exact cause of Crohn's disease is unknown. Crohn's disease is believed to be caused by a combination of genetic, non-genetic or environmental factors (e.g. infections) that interact with the body's immune system and this affects the gastrointestinal tract.
Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disorder in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the healthy tissue of the gastrointestinal tract. The signs and symptoms of Crohn's disease involve chronic recurring periods of flare-ups and remission.
Crohn's disease can result in gastrointestinal, extra-intestinal and systemic complications. Gastrointestinal complications can include diarrhoea, abdominal pain, fever and rectal bleeding. Extra-intestinal complications include problems with the eyes, bones, skin abnormalities and blood abnormalities. Furthermore extra-intestinal complications of Crohn's disease leads to reduced bone density causing osteoporosis or increased bone softening causing osteomalacia. Systemic complications associated with Crohn's disease include growth retardation in children, weight loss due to decreased food intake and malabsorption of carbohydrates or lipids which further exacerbate weight loss.
There is no single cure for Crohn's disease. Where remission of Crohn's disease is possible, relapse can be prevented and symptoms controlled with medication, lifestyle changes, intervention with nutritional compositions and in some cases surgery.
Treatment of Crohn's disease is only possible when the symptoms are active. Treatment of Crohn's disease usually involves first treating the acute problem and then maintaining remission.
There is a need to provide a nutritional composition that can correct metabolic changes in patients with Crohn's disease and prevent and correct Crohn's disease associated alterations in patients with Crohn's disease.
There is a need to be able to monitor patients with Crohn's disease to be able to predict a likelihood of a relapse and remission of the effects of Crohn's disease prior to its occurrence during the remission period. The monitoring of patients with Crohn's disease in this manner is achieved with so called biomarkers. Biomarkers allow a possibility of an early nutritional intervention to maintain a state of remission. Thus, it is desirable to identify biomarkers in patients with Crohn's disease which can be used a diagnostic tool.
Nutritional compositions are known for providing a sole nutritional composition and/or supplemental nutritional composition to patients with inflammatory bowel disease (e.g. Crohn's disease). The nutritional compositions are a primary therapy for inflammatory bowel disease (e.g. Crohn's disease). The nutritional compositions may enable inflammatory activity to be controlled and may enable the patients to be kept in a state of remission.
A nutritional composition—Modulen IBD manufactured by Nestle is known. Modulen IBD is used for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (e.g. Crohn's disease). Modulen IBD is known to contain vitamin K in an amount of 27 μg/100 g. Modulen IBD is known to contain vitamin D in an amount of 4.9 μg/100 g. Modulen IBD is known to contain alpha-linolenic acid in an amount of 0.2 g/100 g. Modulen IBD is a casein-protein based composition. The casein in Modulen IBD provides an anti-inflammatory cytokine—transforming growth factor-β2. The transforming growth factor-β2 has been shown to induce remission in children with active inflammatory bowel disease (e.g. Crohn's disease). The transforming growth factor-β2 promotes mucosal healing of the gastrointestinal tract as it controls inflammatory activity.
Furthermore the transforming growth factor-β2 has immuno-modulatory properties.
WO2011/031601 discloses a nutritional composition and a method of making and using the nutritional composition. The nutritional composition includes exogenous vitamin K2. The nutritional composition may further include an additional component selected from phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, iron, copper, manganese, calcium, vitamin D, osteopontin and combinations thereof.